Monday afternoon quarterback

OK, for everyone who's emailed me about the Evan Brady situation, here it is: He's out with a thigh injury. SU is listing him as week-to-week. I didn't see him after the game to talk to him, so I'm not sure how serious the injury is.

He would have started at close defense had he been healthy. As it was, Steve Panarelli moved down and Jay Shaw started at the pole. Panarelli said afterward that he preferred close defense, mostly because he can be on the field at all times, helping to direct the defense. I still think he's invaluable at the pole, because of his stick skills and his ability to turn defense into offense so quickly.

SU coach John Desko talked earlier in the week about Shaw, the Tully native. He likes the way he's played during the preseason. He's tall (6-foot-4) and rangy. And he's only a sophomore. So we'll see how he progresses. I will say that I believe SU coaches will play Panarelli at the spot they believe can best help them in any given game. I think it's probable that he'll take Paul Rabil and Max Seibald, for instance.

And everybody keeps raving about Matt Tierney. His SU teammates say he's played well in practice and believe he'll see some significant minutes this season. The freshman defender from New Jersey is also 6-4.

The maddening thing about the Sunday scrimmages was the indecipherable jersey numbers. It was OK for the offensive players, since I could tell most of them apart by simple mannerisms or body types. The guys with the long poles were much more difficult to identify.